Mountain Lion wakes homeowners, drags deer off Hillsborough porch

HILLSBOROUGH, Calif. (KGO) -- A mountain lion was caught on camera dragging a deer off the porch of a Peninsula home. Hillsborough is buzzing over the video. Homeowners posted it on a community bulletin board and now everyone's talking about it. It happened at 3:30 a.m. off Tartan Trail Road.

Mary Mines and Peter Rauenbuehler were sleeping when they heard loud noises outside their bedroom window. Little did they know it was a mountain lion on their front porch.

"I didn't have my glasses on so when I looked through the peephole I thought it was a coyote," said Mines. "And I turned to Peter and I said, 'There's a coyote on our front porch,' because we have a lot here. I opened the door and I looked and I said, 'That's not a coyote, that's a much bigger animal.'"

She quickly shut the door. The couple then observed the mountain lion from their window. Their security camera captured video of the big cat dragging a deer it had just killed off their property.

They didn't see it, but they say they heard what they believe was the mountain lion slamming the deer onto their metal fence.

"He dragged the deer over the railing because there was deer hair over the top," said Rauenbuehler. "And the dogs didn't seem to intimidate the mountain lion at all. They were barking pretty crazy."

Mountain lions are not uncommon in Hillsborough, especially in the town's Lakeview District, which sits along a canyon, but this is the first time Mines and Rauenbuehler have seen one so close.

"We told the children to be careful when they're out and be aware," Mines told ABC7 News. "And to carry a stick or umbrella with them, to be big and loud if they see something."